Roar Rookie
Joined April 2019
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Canberra-based Football fan
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At the time that the A-League was unbundled from Football Australia’s control, much was made about the freedom it would give clubs to control…
It’s pretty boring for part-time fans who are used to the overseas leagues.
Dedicated, year-round facilities for football have long been a discussion point for our community and the situation is improving. Work is progressing swiftly on…
The A-League is living through a credibility crisis. Or maybe a whole era of diminished credibility in the eyes of the football community in…
Johnny Warren’s legacy as a bureaucratic warrior for football may been forgotten, but his legacy lives on in ways we can still see today.…
Football in this country is at a low ebb right now. The Matildas crashed out of a tournament that we expected them to win.…
Somewhat overlooked among the announcements regarding Silver Lake’s $130 million investment in the Australian Professional Leagues were two proclamations with far-reaching ramifications regarding competition…
The biggest issue the A-Leagues have, contributing to poor viewing figures and the missed opportunity of growing crowds, is the unimaginative broadcasting arrangements. On…
Mike Tuckerman’s excellent recent article contains a short list of some of the silliest, most tin-eared decisions A-League clubs and league organisers have made…
Earlier this week the Association of Australian Football Clubs chairman Nick Galatas gave an update on how things are tracking on the Championship, the…
In Episode 3 of the Soccer Doctors podcast Andy Harper floated an idea that private schools should step up and invest in licenses to…
We have the biggest amateur and semi-professional sport in the country, not just counted through official Football Australia stats but also through the large…
Will be fascinating to see what the price is. They’ll be getting a club + APL stake.
If it’s significantly less than $25m then that will send a price signal to the potential investors being sounded out for Canberra and Auckland
Does the APL’s corporate structure help or hinder Australian football?
I’m glad that in Australia we’re too special to create stories like this
Fairytale complete: Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham secure EFL promotion after 15-year wait
“We just need the A-League to play more and more games. It‘s crazy, 25 games is not enough,” he said on Tuesday.
“I could probably name 100 kids that, you know, could go up to another level, but they just need to play more football.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/socceroos-coach-graham-arnold-wants-more-aleague-games-to-produce-better-players/news-story/15e9777adf61a58298bd5bfcc584c8a0
Do we want the crap-shoot A-League season we have, or something more predictable?
This is why
https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/socceroos-coach-graham-arnold-wants-more-aleague-games-to-produce-better-players/news-story/15e9777adf61a58298bd5bfcc584c8a0
Do we want the crap-shoot A-League season we have, or something more predictable?
Well said, Chris. Completely agree
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
If they had to compete against world full of other Aussie Rules leagues then their mediocrity would be there for all to see.
But they will continue to be the world’s best, no matter what they do.
As Homer Simpson said: “the two sweetest words: de fault! de fault! de fault!”
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
Absolutely.
In fact, I’ve got another article on the boil that makes exactly the point that Waz and you make.
Every other part of the football ecosystem is actually doing at least okay, if not in rude health. FA finally has its head screwed on straight and is making tough decisions that it has put off for years (eg/ NSD, transfer fees)
There are reasons to be hopeful to be sure 👍
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
At any rate, Simon Hill just wrote the best article about the relationship between the AL and the media that’s been written in years
Including how much abuse and threats journalists endure from people within the game (not fans. Abuse from coaches, club officials etc)
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/04/11/to-suggest-the-football-media-incited-fans-to-riot-is-not-only-wrong-its/
The A-League’s inability to make forward progress a result of all parties
I mean you’re right, but the media doesn’t care about the context of that drama. The ALeague doesn’t generate hits for them any more.
The A-League’s inability to make forward progress a result of all parties
The media bandwagons as much as anything else. Give them something exciting to report on and they will follow.
It’s not been helped by the general downward spiral of old media shedding jobs left and right. That’s also a big part of why there are so few journalists reporting on the AL now.
The A-League’s inability to make forward progress a result of all parties
Fair enough. My overall point is that there is a long tail of underperforming teams that are still theoretically in the hunt because there is so little excellence in the league these days
Sydney FC have been very unimpressive this season but still inhabit a finals spot.
That points to an unhealthy league
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
That would be a good solution. Would also give all players the ability to maximise their talent. And be seen to play at their best by fans and scouts alike.
But the APL don’t want that. Too risky.
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
unfortunately, this points to the twisted logic of where we find ourselves.
1. City are the best team by a lot. In fact, they’re the only team to win a majority of its games.
2. Even teams that have only won 7 out of 23 matches are still in the hunt for finals demonstrates that there is no punishment for mediocrity. In fact, mediocrity can still be rewarded.
3. Even though, City are the best team, they can’t host the GF as every other highest place qualifier has deserved for the last 30+ years
4. There’s still a very real risk that we’ll be denied the glamour, noise and colour of home teams in the Grand Final. Even the NSL managed to get showpiece events when Glory, Strikers hosted GFs for the biggest crowds in that era
I think we’ll look back at this season and wonder what happened to the best parts of the A-League. Well some people will. Lots of others have stopped caring all together,
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
Cheers Mike. I enjoy your writing immensely
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
Thanks Jordan. I think any ideas that add stakes and drama need to be seriously considered. That’s what’s keeps people hooked after all.
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
Thanks Andy. I’m taking increasing interest in the Joeys, Young Socceroos, Young Marildas these days. Your articles about youth tournaments are very valuable
Big name absentee and some surprise selections for Joeys' training camp ahead of Asian Cup
Thanks Stevo, much appreciated. These ideas had all been separately nagging me for months. It wasn’t till I sat and thought through what they all had in common that it became clear. Like you say, they’re too afraid to take the risks that would make football on the pitch much better
Apathy and incentives: Without high-level stakes and drama, the A-League will always be lacking
the FTBL forum is the most busy. And #sokkahtwitter
The A-League desperately needs to bridge the gap between its best games and its worst
He’s pretty much disappeared off twitter since the GF decision. Was very engaged when he was SFC CEO, and the early days of the APL.
Does the A-League have a plan to win back alienated supporters?
Just to throw some realism into people (rightly or wrongly) criticising the 19k crowd.
The fixture was only announced on 2 March. Barely 3 weeks of publicity and planning for fans to work with. Contrast to the very high sales of Matildas tickets which have had several months of publicity so far. Time is a really important factor for these things
Personally, I’d give the crowd size a Pass mark on that basis
Graham Arnold has turned the Socceroos into a genuinely exciting side
Great article Andy. What are the lessons about player development that SA can teach other states?
Adelaide United's teenage sensations, balancing school work with professional football
Over the last 20 years the newly built NFL stadiums have had their field dimensions widened to properly accommodate FIFA standard pitches.
Think back to the 1994 WC final at the Rose Bowl, an old design. The stadium owner had to renovate by cutting back into the stands to fit in the corners of the pitch.
But new stadiums like Mercedes Benz in Atlanta are purposefully wide for the pitch, and with no sightlines impacted
Sublime to ridiculous: The money-grabbing move that helps Socceroos, but could destroy the greatest show on earth
Don’t forget that the opposite of relegation is promotion.
In this example, having 3 SA clubs in the same division is hardly a bad thing, as there would be multiple, meaningful derbies happening.
And as everyone else can see, this is only a temporary state of affairs as we would have a dynamic league system. There could be 3 SA clubs in the top flight within just a few years! Same goes for Perth.
The problem with a national second division
“You can’t shrink your way to greatness”. That’s a well understood principle of business strategy and applies here.
There’s limited exceptions to that idea, and for a football league we’d need to be conscious that we avoid boring repetition of fixtures, game play style etc etc. An expansion of the league serves more benefit than a cull tbh
If there’s to be a cull, it should only be with an eye to removing underperforming clubs, but also with the intention of replacing them with promising performers from a different part of the football ecosystem
The problem with a national second division
Or better yet, imagine what a 2-legged GF would be like for both sets of fans
APL should feel ashamed with its touted 'Festival of Football' looking very thin on the ground